Today conservative talker WBOB starts on their new frequency at 1530 AM and 50k daytime with 5k night...
Finally WOKV has some real competition, from a local competitor!
Finally WOKV has some real competition, from a local competitor!
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WBOB
- Thread starter pocket-radio
- Start date
Well, pocket radio - your info is not quite accurate. WBOB on 1320 was 50,000 watts non-directional daytime/5,000 watts directional (2-tower array) nighttime. With the move to 1530 - WBOB will now become a daytime only operation on AM (local sunrise to sunset), 50,000 watts directional. While the current weekday syndicated talk line-up on 1320 is the strongest it's ever been in it's history (WQIK/WJGR/WBOB) - the actual operation of the station, even in this day of tight budgets, has been under staffed, under funded and under marketed. That most likely won't change in the immediate future. So, while WOKV still doesn't have a serious competitor, WBOB will continue to serve as an alternate source of Conservative Talk Radio in Northeast Florida.
For those who don't know as of July 1st, 1320 will become Pure Radio 1320 WJNJ - owned and operated by New Covenant Ministries - a local church. So another Christian format hits the air on a full-time signal in Jacksonville, Florida!
For those who don't know as of July 1st, 1320 will become Pure Radio 1320 WJNJ - owned and operated by New Covenant Ministries - a local church. So another Christian format hits the air on a full-time signal in Jacksonville, Florida!
pocket-radio said:
I just had a flashback to a few years ago when Dino Costa leased 1530 long enough to run quite the jaunty promo loop...and ultimately, nothing more.
"Depend on WHO?! Depend on the MIGHTY 1530!"
The difference being, of course, that WBOB actually exists, and is probably as strong as it can be for a locally operated non-religious AM sharing a format with the number one station in town.
But why did I assume WBOB would move to 1460? I must admit I've lost track of all the New Covenant and Chesapeake-Portsmouth moves.
As for the signal: will 1530 actually run at 50kW, and how will marketing "spin" the daytime-only signal? Will they "continue online and on FM" [the Jax Beach translator] or just shut off and go home?
What prompted the move to 1530?
Shut AM down at night, save $$$ and allow the FM translator to do the talking (no pun intended)?
I
Shut AM down at night, save $$$ and allow the FM translator to do the talking (no pun intended)?
I
Was WBOB actually self-owned or leasing the time? And if it was owned, why would it give up 50/5 at 1320 for 50 daytime at 1530??
And... why do Jacksonville talkers move around so much? (WBOB, Andy Johnson's progressive talk, etc.).
And... why is there always room for one more preacher-teacher station in Jacksonville? Are there that many "widow's mites" floating around in the economy?
And... why do Jacksonville talkers move around so much? (WBOB, Andy Johnson's progressive talk, etc.).
And... why is there always room for one more preacher-teacher station in Jacksonville? Are there that many "widow's mites" floating around in the economy?
Hey, you guys need to do your homework - a lot of this is on the FCC website. WBOB is owned and operated by Cheasapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting (owned by the Epperson Family - Stu Sr. is one of the top 2 or 3 people at Salem Radio) - and DID own 1320 - but sold it to New Covenant Ministries earlier this year. Why would anyone want to sell a 50kw/5kw signal is anyone's guess. The 1530 frequency is being leased. While AM 1530 is 50,000 watts on paper - it appears to be operating at reduced power - that's my guess. Also, 1530 is directional, while 1320 is non-directional during local daytime hours and has better signal penetration over metro Jax. It should be noted, with a few exceptions, most every AM signal in the state of Florida suffers reduced coverage at night, due to a variety of reasons, such as proximity to the Caribbean, a more active atmosphere in the Summer, etc. Also remember, the big established Northern metros got the better allocations on AM because Florida's growth spurt didn't occur until the last few decades. So, if you turn on 1530 at night, you'll most likely be hearing WCKY's skywave....
Just a couple of more reasons AM's have a more difficult time a night in Florida: Most of our fulltime AM stations have to either reduce power and/or utilize a highly directional antenna array/pattern at night. Most shoot their signals out over the water. And most of the major Florida metros have outgrown the AM signals (especially at night), which were originally designed to serve their city of license and surrounding municipalities when the metros were much smaller. Regarding, why some of the talkers have moved around on the dial - Andy Johnson has had mostly lease or time broker agreements - and has been subject to ownership and format changes, etc. WBOB hasn't shifted around on the dial, until now, but suffered from too many programming/ownership/call-letter changes over the past 15 years or so. Actually, it's ironic that 1320 WBOB was just sold - their current line up of Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and others, appears to have been the strongest national schedule they ever put together. All they needed was to institute some more local elements, local news and traffic, for example, and they would most likely continue to grow a loyal conservative audience. Slow and steady wins - WOKV has put together a very good, dependable product - but it's taken them over 20 years to do so, and to their credit, through some ownership and management changes. If you remember, in the early days, WOKV (which was then on 600) scrambled to improve their signal by leasing 100.7 for a time. And in the more recent years, despite now being a market leader, and having moved to the best 50,000 watt non-directional daytime AM signal at 690 in Jacksonville, and possibly Florida, Cox spent over 6 million to secure a place for their format on FM at 106.5 - and it's only a class A. Even though 690 has been upped to 25,000 watts at night, that 6 tower directional still misses a large part of the metro at night. It's my guess that if they ever had a serious News/Talk competitor, they would move 'OKV to one of their 100,000 watt facilities.
But the difficulties with AM didn't stunt the early growth of talk radio in the rest of Florida. In fact, it encouraged it. AM's such as 790 in Miami, 740 in Orlando and 1230 and 1340 in West Palm Beach moved early into talk, because Florida was one of the first regions of the country where FM won away the music audience. But those stations were local. WOKV was first in in Jax and its bad habits (emphasizing syndication from the very start in 1982) helped to stunt local competition.
Other than WOKV, Jacksonville AM's waited too long to get into talk. Thus, when the last call came for music on AM in the early 90's, as big band and classic country faded out, these operators had no clue, no capital, and no willingness to invest in their product. Thus began the cycle of brokering that has also crippled the growth of real talk radio in the Jacksonville market. If you're an ambitious host, the only way to get on in Jax is to pay and be your own salesman. The best salesmen are usually not the best hosts. Stations like 690 (just before it became WOKV) went off the edge into brokered quack infomercials in prime time in the early 90's. Cheap syndication made it possible for a WBOB to sound halfway legit, but the dial-hopping pretty much kills any ambition of being a real competitor to OKV.
Another problem is that there are just too many "media ministries" who think Jacksonville is a pocket ripe to be picked. Look how many stations have gone down that road despite an utter lack of audience. Far more than in bigger markets such as Tampa or Miami.
Other than WOKV, Jacksonville AM's waited too long to get into talk. Thus, when the last call came for music on AM in the early 90's, as big band and classic country faded out, these operators had no clue, no capital, and no willingness to invest in their product. Thus began the cycle of brokering that has also crippled the growth of real talk radio in the Jacksonville market. If you're an ambitious host, the only way to get on in Jax is to pay and be your own salesman. The best salesmen are usually not the best hosts. Stations like 690 (just before it became WOKV) went off the edge into brokered quack infomercials in prime time in the early 90's. Cheap syndication made it possible for a WBOB to sound halfway legit, but the dial-hopping pretty much kills any ambition of being a real competitor to OKV.
Another problem is that there are just too many "media ministries" who think Jacksonville is a pocket ripe to be picked. Look how many stations have gone down that road despite an utter lack of audience. Far more than in bigger markets such as Tampa or Miami.
Smedge - Excellent points from a historical perspective. Jacksonville's always been a more "Southern" city in demo mix and attitude than the other large metros in Florida. I'm not sure that had anything to do with it, and the lack of getting a "live and local talker on earlier in the game. WOKV has varied their approach to their morning block over the years - shifting from a "personality" based morning presentation to a more "news/information" package, followed by their syndicated fare, highlighting Rush and Hannity. It always appeared to me, they wanted to be a sound-alike of their big cousin WSB. It's taken them many years, but 'OKV has pretty much accomplished that, and in doing so, have established themselves as the ratings leader and a cash cow for Cox. Too bad another operator didn't have the resources, desire and vision to have a piece of that pie earlier on.
But Jacksonville's not Atlanta, and the dollar returns are much different.
But Jacksonville's not Atlanta, and the dollar returns are much different.
Which brings up an interesting point -- despite the South being the most conservative region in the country, it spawns very few talk radio stars. The southern markets were very slow to pick up on talk radio before syndication got big. Maybe the owners were afraid of all that yelling and name-calling being un-southern. I still think that if, say, a WJAX-930 had gotten into the game live and local, say around 1985, history might have been very different.
As for WOKV's signal at night -- the nighttime site delivers enough juice to cover 90 percent of Duval County. The problem is that 690 has a high interference level, mainly from WIST (formerly WTIX) in New Orleans. Surprised Cox couldn't come up with a way to shut that down or neuter it, especially post-Katrina.
Yes, 690 in New Orleans sends out sizable lobes both east and west at night, (It's rather surprising that WAPE 690 was able to get the FCC to allow their nighttime signal with the much stricter rules in effect back in the early '60's - since WTIX was usually bubbling in the background - somebody must have pulled some strings). WOKV attempted to supress the noise ceiling further with the upgrade from 10,000 to 25,000 watts at night several years ago, but that 6 tower array is still pretty tight, head south over the Doctor's Inlet bridge on 17, or to the World Golf Village, and it's skywave time, so you got it right, it's all Duval. Is there any Jacksonville AM signal that isn't noisy at the Beaches at night?
Good thing the T-U and the local GOP don't realize what a crummy signal WBOB has at 1530.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-07-04/story/florida-political-notes-mica-challenger-raises-60000-mostly-through
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-07-04/story/florida-political-notes-mica-challenger-raises-60000-mostly-through
I think the issue is simply that there's not enough money in the market. When Cox put all-sports "The Ball" on 600 back in the 90's it was one of the best locally-focused sports stations anywhere, but it lost tons of money and they eventually dumped it.
Cox and CC basically get all of the money the market has to offer from real advertisers, and the remaining signals struggle to find audiences and cash flow. Any market where WJXR (are they still on?) and the Greg Larsen show on 970 could run for as long as they did has too many signals available.
Cox and CC basically get all of the money the market has to offer from real advertisers, and the remaining signals struggle to find audiences and cash flow. Any market where WJXR (are they still on?) and the Greg Larsen show on 970 could run for as long as they did has too many signals available.
This is an interesting post and really there are some side items brought up here worthy of their own string. Yes, Cox Radio made all the right decisions regarding WOKV. As I usually say, planning needs to take the future into consideration. Today WOKV is well-positioned and they are chock full of very talented and dedicated people.
Jacksonville is a city in transition. Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer about what people think of our city. Recall the time our city was in contention to host the super bowl. I’ve indicated where I was born and raised numerous times on these boards. While I don’t believe in stereotyping anyone, I have to say I was put off by all the pseudo intellectuals broadcasting from NYC who were poking fun at Jax. I live here and I see our community differently. It wouldn’t surprise me if many of these critics never ever set foot here.
Right now I’m in the Smoky Mountains and ready to head back to town. The other night we went to one of those family style restaurants where you sit at a big table with lots of other folks. Somebody started some small talk asking where everyone was from. Jax got overall thumbs up from the crowd who were mostly from the south and Midwest. Somebody actually brought up the fact that we have a great news radio station here with WOKV. That was good to hear. They do make positive impressions and that's great for radio.
When I visit old friends in S Fla and NYC, their impression of Jax is just so condescending. They think they are so tolerant and liberal-minded. But I’ve witnessed another side in many of these people (who hopefully won’t read this) where bigotry and hateful language spews at the drop of a hat. I just can’t stand hypocrisy.
I guess where I’m going with all this is any group or company who wishes to do business in Jacksonville will probably invest in something they believe reflects the community and its values. Maybe that’s why we have so many Gospel stations. I’m not saying anything is wrong with that. In fact I believe our town has more genuine, decent and hard-working people per square mile than in a lot of other places I visit. Again, it’s just perception.
Perhaps I shouldn’t give a crap if the misinformed have an incorrect view of our town or that collectively we aren’t as sophisticated as they are. Communities considered conservative are often given a bad wrap. Maybe we are Florida’s best kept secret. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. I still say there is plenty of opportunity in our town to be ahead of the power curve that reflects the fact that a community can be conservative and cosmopolitan too. The first step is getting rid of stereotype and assumptions about people. And that starts with all of us. Happy Trails!
Jacksonville is a city in transition. Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer about what people think of our city. Recall the time our city was in contention to host the super bowl. I’ve indicated where I was born and raised numerous times on these boards. While I don’t believe in stereotyping anyone, I have to say I was put off by all the pseudo intellectuals broadcasting from NYC who were poking fun at Jax. I live here and I see our community differently. It wouldn’t surprise me if many of these critics never ever set foot here.
Right now I’m in the Smoky Mountains and ready to head back to town. The other night we went to one of those family style restaurants where you sit at a big table with lots of other folks. Somebody started some small talk asking where everyone was from. Jax got overall thumbs up from the crowd who were mostly from the south and Midwest. Somebody actually brought up the fact that we have a great news radio station here with WOKV. That was good to hear. They do make positive impressions and that's great for radio.
When I visit old friends in S Fla and NYC, their impression of Jax is just so condescending. They think they are so tolerant and liberal-minded. But I’ve witnessed another side in many of these people (who hopefully won’t read this) where bigotry and hateful language spews at the drop of a hat. I just can’t stand hypocrisy.
I guess where I’m going with all this is any group or company who wishes to do business in Jacksonville will probably invest in something they believe reflects the community and its values. Maybe that’s why we have so many Gospel stations. I’m not saying anything is wrong with that. In fact I believe our town has more genuine, decent and hard-working people per square mile than in a lot of other places I visit. Again, it’s just perception.
Perhaps I shouldn’t give a crap if the misinformed have an incorrect view of our town or that collectively we aren’t as sophisticated as they are. Communities considered conservative are often given a bad wrap. Maybe we are Florida’s best kept secret. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. I still say there is plenty of opportunity in our town to be ahead of the power curve that reflects the fact that a community can be conservative and cosmopolitan too. The first step is getting rid of stereotype and assumptions about people. And that starts with all of us. Happy Trails!
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